One and Co

One and Co

by

The do’s and don’ts of Background Checks During the Hiring Process

Once upon a time, it could be said that the recruitment process was fairly black and white. Now, all sorts of automated systems have entered the equation, with companies even relying on online background checks to help them along their way.

Up until recently, use of such checks was regarded as completely fine (from a legal standpoint, at least). Over recent times there have been a surge of laws that have come into place though, with many of these placing restrictions on employees over what they can or can’t do to access this people search information. To make matters even more complicated, all of the rules vary by state.

Taking this into account, we have outlined some of the main do’s and don’ts that you should consider if you are about to recruit someone new to your team.

DO tell the potential employee in question

This is already something of a grey area. If you are outsourcing an external company to conduct background checks on an individual, you are required by law to inform the potential employee about the process.

In some areas, the above doesn’t apply if you are doing all of the process yourself. However, a lot of legal experts are suggesting that you do inform them, just to keep everything above board.

DON’T obtain information you are not allowed to

This next point might sound self-explanatory – but only if you are already familiar with the laws surrounding background checks.

In short, you can’t obtain any piece of information that you want. There is only some that you are legally allowed to get. Starting with the negatives, anything related to medical history or family records tends to be out of the question (and it’s for obvious reasons).

However, if you are looking to obtain their employment, criminal or education history, in most states this is completely fine.

What we are trying to say is that you should list everything you want to find out about a candidate, before verifying with the authorities if you are permitted to access this information. A general rule of thumb is that if the information is relevant to the job advert you have posted, it’s completely fine to obtain. Of course, it goes without saying that you should still verify this due to the different nature of laws between states.

DO give the candidate time to respond to the background check

Unsurprisingly, a lot of companies will use these background checks to make a decision on an applicant. There will be occasions where this information is used on its own – potentially without even relying on an interview.

It’s in these cases where the employer must inform them of why they have overlooked them based on this information. The candidate must be given enough time to respond, so that they can verify or even dispute any information that has occurred. There can be some innocent, or different at least, reasons behind some background check information and this is the reason this law exists.

by

Solutions for Common Caregiving Challenges

Caring for yourself can be a difficult task, and adding another person to that list can often cause a lot of stress. Caring.com surveyed more than 1,000 caregivers and reports that caring for someone else is their biggest source of stress. Often times caregivers tend to someone else’s needs before their own and it is important to take care of yourself, too.

Stress can do the body more bad than good and the Arthritis Foundation lists realistic solutions to 9 common caregiving challenges.

Challenge #1: I’m exhausted. According to a survey from AARP, the average caregiver is a woman in her mid-forties caring for a parent, holds a job and cares for her own family, too! Now, add a medical condition such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA) to that and you can imagine how she could feel exhausted all the time.

Solution: Try natural energy boosters. It can be hard to fall asleep at night, especially with the stress of caregiving. To get a good night’s sleep try and skip TV before bed, drop the temperature in the room and make it as dark as possible to help you fall asleep. Eating a healthy diet will also help as well because processed foods can spike your blood sugar and then make you feel tired shortly after. Alongside eating healthier, try adding even just 10 minutes of exercise a day.

Challenge #2: There’s too much to do. Caring.com’s survey showed that 58% of caregivers spend more than 10 hours a week helping a loved one with their daily tasks such as shopping, setting doctor appointments, and driving. Doing this and taking care of your own life can feel very overwhelming.

Solution: Focus on what is important and limit yourself and be honest about it. If you have your own life to look after or even a medical condition, talk to the person you’re caring for and tell them what you can/can’t do. If you suffer from arthritis, focus on doing what you can do before it gets too much on your body. Having them understand your needs might help make caring for them a little easier. If some of the tasks are too difficult, reach out to a fellow family member or health specialist who specializes in caregiving to help you out.

Challenge #3: Seeing my loved one this way makes me sad. According to the CDC, 9% of Americans suffer from depression and that number increases to 20-50% among caregivers.

Solution: Make time for yourself and focus on the positive. Getting wrapped up in caring for loved one is easy, but make sure you set aside some time to recharge your brain and focus on yourself. Try taking just 5 minutes a couple times a day and read something that interests you, or listen to music. Being a caregiver can affect your mental health so make sure you give yourself rests and focus on the positive and know that you’re doing all you can for them.

Challenge #4: It’s hard to always be the bearer of bad news. Many times the caregiver acts as a messenger between family members on what is happening, and delivering bad news can add on to their stress.

Solution: Pick another messenger. If you are caring for a parent, ask another family member to break bad news to the family. If they cannot drive anymore, have a doctor tell them rather than a caregiver.

Challenge #5: My body hurts more now that I am a caregiver. Physical demanding tasks such as helping someone out of a chair or supporting them while they walk can take a toll on your body.

Solution: Get more help from the person you’re caring for. Try and have the one you’re caring for do as much as they can first before helping them out. They might lean on you to do everything even if they are capable of doing it. Having them help out can ease the stress on your body and if you’re having to help them, make sure you engage the right muscles to help eliminate the risk of injury.

Challenge #6: I take on tasks that probably aren’t safe for me. Many hospitals and care facilities have people who handle heavy lifting and difficult physical tasks, but many caregivers still attempt to carry out these tasks on their own.

Solution: Know your limits. Try writing down all the physical tasks you have to do and run them by your physician and have them determine, based on your current health, what you should and shouldn’t do. If anything, hire extra help to do the tasks that you can’t do.

Challenge #7: I spend a lot of money on caring for them. According to caring.com, almost half of caregivers spend about $5,000 of their own money each year in caring for a loved one.

Solution: Keep finances separate and document expenses. Before spending your own cash on items such as prescription pills, see if the person you’re caring for has their own source of income such as Social Security or a savings account. If you must use your own money, document all the expenses and ask other family members to help split the cost. 

Challenge #8: I feel distant from the outside world. Taking care of someone can make it difficult for the caregiver to leave the house for things that are not caring-related. Becoming isolated from the world can cause a lot of health problems such as depression and other diseases.

Solution: Make your social life a priority. Try and find at least 15 minutes a day to get outside and enjoy the fresh air and talk to someone. Ask a neighbor or a friend to come over to chat or sit down and read a book. If this is too much, try online-support groups. These are meant to help those in the same situation and can help substitute when you can’t find time to go outside and take a walk with a friend. 

Challenge #9: I feel burned out. A Dutch study published in Disability and Rehabilitation show that more than 25% of caregivers feel an immense burden hanging over them due to the stress of caring for a loved one.

Solution: Share the load. Try making a list of your daily caregiving duties and try to delegate as much as possible to others around you. Sometimes asking for help can be hard but it will relieve the stress off of you and make caregiving easier. Taking notes too can help with delegating tasks and showing what someone should expect when doing a certain task.

Always consult your physician about your overall health and what you can do to best suite your needs.

Source:

Acorn Stairlifts

Pagan, Camille Noe. “Solutions for Nine Common Caregiving Challenges.” The Arthritis Foundation. http://www.arthritis.org/living-with-arthritis/life-stages/caregiving/caregiving-arthritis.php

 

by

Quick manager’s guide to increasing online business presence

Any business can benefit from a web presence. Web marketing is a great way to allow clients to know that your company is what they really need. Being searchable online allows you to generate leads, which excites current customers and entices new ones.

After the initial work is complete, a website will continue to generate interest and growth for your company in the years to come. Regardless of your businesses’ age, you need to take advantage of internet marketing techniques to boost your company’s web presence – and ultimately your profit.

Decide why you want to have a better company web presence. Having a basic website advertises your company while a more complex website lets customers get features like special discounts or shop online. A complex site involves more initial outlay for design and maintenance, but the content can keep your customers returning to the site for more. After deciding on your goal, pick a name and do a quick domain lookup to see if it’s claimed or not.

Invest in a professional design. The website’s design must have an impact and be clear at first glance. It needs to be easy to navigate, and most importantly, it needs to work. Most free hosting solution rarely offers all premium attributes and can even drive customers away by putting too much advertising that pays for the “free” sites. Investing in a professional design or using a good web builder will give you more control over the site and ensures that the site actually works towards your goal.

Boost your search engine ranking. Being online isn’t enough. You need to be easily found by your customers. Search engine optimization services are oftentimes included in your web design or hosting package. If you don’t use a search engine optimization package, it’ll be very hard to rank without having exemplary content and years of standard advertising.

Utilize keywords to improve your search engine rankings. Don’t overuse them though. Just choose one or two key phrases that a potential customer might type in a search engine and make use of these throughout your website’s copy. Never overuse keywords as this can harm your ranking.

Update your site regularly. An updated site will keep customers coming back for more and boosts your search engine ranking. Keeping a blog, giving special offers, and adding forums or newsletter are ways to keep your search engine rankings fresh and your users happy.

Go social. Social media can generate both potential leads and general interest. Create social media accounts for your business and put links to your website and social media. This lets visitors move back and forth easily.

by

5 Tips for Selecting the Best Website Buider

There are many things to take into consideration when creating a website. Some of them are the target audience, how you need your website to look like, what will it be about among others. When planning to get a website for your business, it is vital that you look for the best website builders. Below are 5 tips to help you select the best out of all:

1. User interface

Since one will be spending 90% of his or her time interacting with the user interface, it becomes very necessary to understand how to use it before making the final decision. If one is not comfortable editing HTML code, it means that it would be best to use platforms that provide Drag and Drop technology that is simply manipulating the elements on the website by dragging them into the page. For those who prefer this technology, they should look for websites builders such as Weebly and IM Creator.

2. Themes and templates

Unless you are well acquainted in HTML or code in general, thinking about creating your own website from scratch can be a daunting task. However, a majority of the website builders come with a wide variety of themes and templates tailored to one’s specific needs.

3. Responsive design

In today’s world, most of the people are using either smartphones or tablets to surf, which means that you need to ensure your business website is well optimized for mobile devices. During the past, creating a responsive website was very difficult as compared to these days whereby most of the website builders provide responsive designs. There are other companies that force their clients to create 2 separate websites which become very tiresome. This leads to a decision of choosing a website builder that provides templates with a responsive design.

4. Pricing

If an individual needs a very professional looking site, chances are that he or she might be forced to give out some sort of fees. Since most of the website builders operate on a premium model basis that offers some sort of free versions, some of them will force you to pay extra cash in case you need to use more features. Furthermore, if you want to possess your own domain, then it will be a requirement that you pay for it.

5. Web hosting

Majority of the website builders offer some sort of web hosting. Most free plans will majorly come with a branded domain such as IM Creators or Weebly. These companies provide free domains which come with the company’s name at first and later with your own address. This might be ok for a small personal website unlike if you want to use it for commercial purposes whereby you need to consider buying your own domain name.

In terms of web hosting, you also need to consider several things like examining the amount of space that you will get with the web hosting. This is because you can be disappointed by building a perfect website and later find that it doesn’t fit on the server since you did not purchase enough space.